Bullpen Shuffle Continues For Red Sox: Velazquez Lands On IL, Sharawyn Called Up
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Red Sox shuffled their roster -- and their bullpen -- a bit ahead of an important four-game set with the Yankees in New York.
Boston placed righty Hector Velazquez on the 10-day injured list with a lower back strain, and filled his roster spot with fellow righty Mike Shawaryn from Triple-A Pawtucket. This will be the first big league experience for Shawaryn, a 2016 fifth-round pick by Boston.
Shawaryn has spent the bulk of his career as a starter, with just one of his 68 minor league appearances coming out of the bullpen. The 24-year-old was 1-2 with a 3.72 ERA in his 10 starts with the PawSox this season, allowing three earned runs or fewer in nine of those starts. Overall, he is 18-20 with a 3.60 ERA over his four minor league seasons in the Boston organization.
Shawaryn does have some experience out of the bullpen, making eight of his nine appearances as a reliever in the Arizona Fall League in 2018. He allowed three runs off 11 hits over 12.2 innings, going 1-0 with one save.
Given his experience as a starter, there's a good chance Shawaryn may get a start at some point in the near future for Boston, potentially in next week's series in Kansas City.
Velazquez has been ineffective out of the Boston bullpen lately, allowing 11 runs in 7.1 innings over his last six appearances. Opponents hit .323 off the righty in that span. The Cleveland Indians tagged Velazquez for four runs in two innings in Boston's 14-9 loss Wednesday night.
